Nothling

I let out a long yawn, feeling my translucent wings fluttering behind me. I don’t feel nearly as stiff this morning. In fact, I almost feel good. Almost.

I give a low hum as I stretch my back and snuggle into whatever it is I’m lying next to. Interestingly, I don’t recall my pillow being anywhere near this soft; perhaps my senses are finally coming back to me. I’d much rather enjoy the feeling than to worry, though, so I hardly bother to think about it.

I push my face into the softness and breath in deeply. The pleasant scent of fermented cherries fills my nose. Strange. Could I have spilled something on myself last night? I wonder.

Last night.

I quickly lift my head, horn bumping against something as my eyes shoot open. The ‘something’ sturs. “Mmhm…” A hoof wraps around my back and pulls me in. “Good morning,” a voice mumbles sleepily.

My confusion quickly washes away as my mind is flooded with the previous night’s events. Already, I feel awake; lucid, but I can hardly move with the stiffness within my spine. “You’re... still here?” I utter flatly, the question more so meant for myself.

Dusk Glider pulls away slightly eyeing me curiously. “What do you mean? Of course I'm still here.”

With her head now out of the way, I sit up, scooting away from her. I hardly believe what I see in front of me, even more so what I just heard. I glance away. “I just… uh, expected to be waking up to The Guard knocking on my front door,” I say. “That… or maybe I thought last night was… well, just a dream,” I say in a lower voice, tapping my hooves together, embarrassed.

She smiles. “I wouldn’t have done that to you,” she assures.

I look down. “You might as well have…”

I don’t see her expression, but I can already smell her shock at my words. “What? Why?”

I shake my head, my lips curling into a frown. “I’m a changeling, Dusk Glider. ” I face her.. “I- I don’t mean to offend you, but, we’re… we’re monsters. You’re crazy for staying here.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “Monsters?! Excuse me?” she says, taken aback. “You’re saying that I’m a monster?!”

My eyes widen.. “Nonono! I- I meant… w-we, as in, my own kind,” I hastily explain with flattened ears, holding a hollow hoof to my chest.

Her own ears fold back as well. “Oh,” she says awkwardly, looking away.

Neither of us speaks a word for quite a while. We sit apart, mere inches away from each other. I look out of the corner of my eye every now and again, watching Dusk Glider trace shapes in the couch cushions.

I smell the guilt coming off of her. She feels inadequate – slowly, I start to feel the same. She had fed me, and then I returned the favor by calling her a monster. The least I can do now is show some gratitude.

Sighing, I turn towards her. “Thank you.” Dusk Glider looks over to me with an ear standing tall, slightly surprised. “For feeding me.”

Her emotions soften. “Oh, it’s not a problem at all. Like I said last night, it felt wonderful,” she says, beaming.

I cringe as I feel the happiness blowing up against me, fluttering my wings as if that would blow it away. It smells delightful, but all it tells me is that she still doesn’t understand what she's doing in the slightest. She’s making a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake.

My head droops. I know what I must say, but I don’t think I’ll be able to look her in the eye when I say it. Still, it must be done. Not just for my own sake, but for hers as well.

“You should leave,” I tell her, my voice monotonous.

The hurt that flows out from Dusk Glider is almost instantaneous. I can’t help but shiver as it runs against my skin. The mere thought of having to push her away was bad enough, but the sheer rawness of the emotion sends a tear streaking down my cheek.

Gulping, I continue, trying my best to not let my voice shake: “Y-you could get in trouble, being around me. If- if somepony sees you…” I stop. I can’t go on. I can only hope she gets the point by now.

I look down at my hooves, still black and chitinous. Immediately, I grit my teeth and shut my eyes. I forgot about that.

Focusing deep within me, a purple flash lights up the room as my carapace is ripped away and replaced with fur, body tingling shortly afterwards. Already, the hollowness has returned in full. I slump into my seat, looking down at my blue coat to confirm the transformation worked before glancing over to Dusk Glider.

Her eyes are slightly narrow. She’s upset. “...Hmmph. And what if I don’t want to go?” she challenges loudly.

I was already nervous when I sensed her agitation, but now I’m more than that: I’m scared. “W-what? Wh-what do you mean?” I chitter.

Her eyebrows furrowed completely now. She leaps off of the sofa, facing away. “You've been starving for love for- how long was it? I don't know, but you said it was years. Years! And you expect me to just walk away and let you keep living like that all over again?!” She stomps the floor as she stops in the center of the room. Then, she spins around, staring right through me. “Well, guess what? There’s not a chance in Tartarus that I’m leaving you, Glow. And that’s final! I’m staying right…” she sits down on the floor, closing her eyes and crossing her forelegs. “...here!”

Actually, I’m not scared anymore; I’m now fearing for my life.

****

I’m reasonably proud of my display at first. I thought I got my point across pretty well. But my pride quickly dissipates when I peak a single eye open, only to find the whites around Glow’s formerly ocean-blue eyes having turned red.

She sniffles loudly, bottom lip trembling. “You don’t get it,” she says dryly, looking down. “I’ve always been hungry. Always! It’s the way us changelings are, and it’s the way we- I, will always be. Tears now steadily run down Glow’s face, darkening her light-blue coat in their wake. “You can’t stay here, Dusk Glider. You’re putting your life on the line. I’m an animal, and not just any animal: a starving animal. Do you know what an animal that’s starving does? They don’t think twice before ripping apart whatever’s in front of them to shreds!”

I stare as more tears run down Glow’s cheeks. I barely know what to say, or even what to think.

She sniffles again. “I spend every waking second, every minute, every hour of every day trying to… contain myself. And there’s no end in sight; it’ll never stop!” She looks up at me. “I’m barely able to keep it together as is, and n-now you want to stay here with me?” Her lips tremble even more than before, indigo flames igniting at the base of her hooves.

My eyes widen, but I remain unmoving.

“I can smell it c-c-coming off of you,” she vibrates, “a-all the love. All of t-that sweet, sweet l-love… I- I w-wouldn’t be able to control myself. W-w-what if I end up t-t-taking too much one t-time? What then?!” she yells out, voice rising in volume. “What if I HURT you by mistake!?” she finally sobs out, looking at me with frightened eyes, which crackled with purple fire.

I feel a bit more spooked from her outburst than I’d like to admit. It takes a bit of courage to continue holding my ground.

“...W-what if I can’t stop myself?” she chokes, collapsing in on herself as she starts sniffling quietly.

I watch her, silent. I don’t know what to do anymore. She isn’t just starving – she wants to be starving. Maybe she isn’t that different from an anorexic after all. I figured there was something up with this filly the moment I first saw her at the venue, but now? Now, I’m just depressed.

Hay, I can even feel my own eyes starting to water. And the more I stare at the sniffling mess in front of me, the sadder I get. My throat is tightening and I find it hard to breathe. I lift a hoof up to my face, wiping the wetness out from my blurring vision. It’s not too much later that a single sniffle escapes from my nostrils as I try taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself.

You poor, poor thing, I think as another one of my tears drops to the floor. Why would anyone look at you and say that you deserve this?

I can’t bear to sit here idly any longer; it’s too painful. Wiping the wetness against my foreleg again, I take one final deep breath and stand up from my spot, slowly making my way to the foot of the couch.

“Glow... you won’t do that,” I say gently, trying my best to comfort her.

She jumps and hurries away towards the back of the couch, violently shaking her head. “H-how do you know I won’t? You barely even know me, Dusk Glider.”

I stop, furrowing my brow. She was right. I didn’t really know her, but it felt like I did. I was alone with her, in her home, where nopony else knew my whereabouts. Not only that, but I had stayed the whole night, even after I knew what she really was. Good Luna, she really could have hurt me. But that was it: she didn’t hurt me. She doesn’t want to.

I smile, finally knowing what to say. “Come on, just think about it. If you were really going to take too much, why didn't you do it the first chance you got? You must've been really starving last night, so if you were going to take too much without thinking, it would've already happened.”

She sniffles, peeking over at me from behind her hooves. “W-what if being around you is too overwhelming?” she asks hoarsely. “It’d probably only take weeks before I eventually just… snap.”

”Well,” I start, inching closer to her, “let me ask you this: do you want to hurt me, Glow?” She shakes her head quickly, as if she were terrified from the mere notion of doing such a thing. “Then you won't. It's as simple as that,” I say confidently.

Though her sobbing had stopped a while ago, she still sniffles once more, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “I don’t trust myself,” she says, glancing down at my hooves as I stop before the sofa.

I hop up onto it, quickly wrapping my wings around her back. “I trust you,” I whisper to her. She tenses at first, but gradually relaxes, finally leaning forward and resting her head against my chest. Her horn presses against my cheek, but I don’t let that bother me, simply placing my hoof onto her mane and stroking it gently.

We stay like that for quite a while, content with enjoying each other’s company.

Good things don’t last, however, as I hear a muffled groan, followed by the sensation of Glow’s shivering body.

My ears perk up. “What is it, what’s wrong?” I ask, pulling back and looking down at her.

“N-nothing,” she replies in a low tone. “Everything’s fine.” A small wince gives her away.

“Doesn’t seem fine,” I press.

Glow’s pupils slowly meet mine, hesitating. She then tilts her head sideways, the edge of her face resting on the cushion. A faraway look enters her eyes. “It’s... bottomless,” she says, barely above a whisper.

I pause, contemplating. “What is?”

She looks up at me worriedly, but remains silent.

Sighing, I try to coax it out of her. “Glow, you can’t keep all your struggles to yourself anymore. Trust me, I know quite a bit about that. It doesn’t end well. It never does,” I tell her.

She glances down, remaining fixated on the floor momentarily before eventually looking back, parting her lips and taking a deep breath. “...It’s the hollow inside of me,” she begins.

I lean back on the couch, waiting patiently for her to continue.

Glow lets out a shaky breath before she speaks, “The place where all the emotions go. It-… it’s so big,” she struggles to explain, “and empty.”

I continue to listen, watching her place a hoof on her skinny abdomen, halfway between her heart and stomach.

“It’s like… I’m a m-mountain, tunneled to the point of collapse,” she breathes in sharply. “And I’m trying to fill it up again... with tiny grains of sand.”

I look her up and down, considering her words. “Use me, then,” I say. “Use me to fill it up.”

She turns her head to me. “It wouldn’t be enough,” she states, shaking her head slowly.

“Wh- why not?” I ask, confused.

“Bottomless,” she repeats plainly, looking back away. “Nothing can fill it.”

Silence. “...Not even me?” I say after a while.

She turns her head over to me with a sad look in her eyes. “It would hurt you,” she says in a trance, then clarifies: “I’d have to steal the emotion from you and it would be painful. It would be like no other kind of suffering you would have ever felt before in your life. Once I start feeding, you’ll already be able to feel it slipping away from you. You’d run out of love to give, long before I would be satisfied… and then, you’d feel nothing. Your mind reduced to nothing more than an empty husk of a mare,” she finishes dramatically.

I put a hoof to my chin. As scary as all of that sounded, there are still flaws in her reasoning. “You wouldn’t be taking anything, Glow. I’d be giving it to you.”

She shakes her head. “You can’t give anything, you don’t actually love me, Dusk Glider, and even if you wanted to…” she stops. “I’m a changeling. You can’t love me; it’s impossible.”

My heart quickens and my brow furrows. Nopony tells me who I can and can’t love, I think angrily. And even if it isn’t really love, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.
I lean forward with confidence and plant a kiss ferociously on Glow’s cheek. It lasts only for a second and tastes salty from her tears, but the message is clear. “I’m going to have to disagree with you on that,” I say to her.

Glow looks back at me, shocked, her mouth hanging open. She rubs the place my lips made contact with her hoof and looks down at the floor. Then, her eyes slowly rise to my chest before returning to my hooves. She repeats the process a few more times before finally coming to rest on my pupils.

I already know what she’s yearning to do, and I yearn for her to do it as well; she just needs one final push. “Go ahead, do it,” I say. “I want this.”

Glow lets out a long breath and lets her eyes close. She’s ashamed, I can see it in her face. I open my mouth to assure her that it’s okay once more when, all of a sudden, she starts feeding. I close my own eyes as well, relaxing into the couch as I prepare to lose myself in the feeling.

But the feeling I’m looking for never comes. Or, at least, it doesn’t come in the way I expect.

It’s rough, like somepony grabbing me firmly and forcefully throwing me down, pinning the small part within me to the ground. Whereas last time it was all blissfully warm, now it’s freezing. It feels like I’m at the bottom of an immensely deep, empty cave, the floor coarse and damp. And it’s dark. Crushingly dark, the blackness too thick for even my Thestral eyes to pierce.

Suddenly, the sound of rain echoes far above me. My eyes go wide against the darkness. No, I breathe out, not the rain. I try to stand against the force that still pins me to the rough stone, but it’s all in vain. The rain grows closer, I still attempt to break free. It’s no use. A drop falls onto my head and, soon, the cave is filling up with water. Thunder crackles, echoing across the cavern. I panic and thrash around even more, ice-cold liquid pooling around my chest. I can still barely move. Eventually, the water creeps up to my maw, slipping into my throat, choking me.

Dear Luna, SOMEPONY PLEASE HELP ME! I scream out in my mind.

In response, it all stops as suddenly as it started, the phantom menace expelled from my body. I open my eyes wide, gasping for air, though, only to meet the terrified stare of the mare across from me.

“I- I hurt you, didn’t I?” she asks, shaking.

“No!” I blurt out far louder than I mean to, causing her to flinch. “It- It was just a bit different... from last time, that’s all,” I think on the fly.

She shakes her head back and forth. “You’re lying, I can feel it. Something happened, and it wasn’t good.”

“I… uh...” I struggle to grasp for an explanation as her lips begin to tremble again. “Nonono, please! It was nothing, I swear!” I say quickly. “It was only a little cold, I could get used to it!” I add stupidly, internally slapping myself in the forehead once I realize I’ve revealed the exact thing I was trying to keep from her.

“I did hurt you, I knew it!” she cries out.

“Glow! Please! You weren't hurting anything! I was a little cold – maybe the slightest bit wet, that’s all” I shiver, remembering how I was drowning.

“You’re leaving parts out,” she says, starting to vibrate, “aren’t you? You’re trying to make me feel better about it. I can smell the sympathy.”

“I- uh... uh…” I flounder, not knowing how to explain this one away.

“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into doing that,” she says quietly, looking like she was trying to hold back tears. “I told you, you can’t love me.”

“No!” I suddenly shout. “I don’t care what you say! Or what it’ll feel like – I don’t even care if it’ll feel like that every time from now on!” I get out, feeling something trickle down my cheek. “You’re killing yourself, Glow! I’m not going to let you do that!” I crumple into the cushions, whipping my wet cheeks. “I just can't.”

“Why are you trying so hard?” Glow asks in an even tone.

“Because,” I say without thinking, “I have to prove that anypony can be loved.”

“Because you’re a Lunarpony?” she asks with sad eyes, making me raise my head.

...Oh, Luna. She’s right. I’m not merely worried about her; I’m trying to make a point with all of this, too. How did I not even think about it that way, before? I always know why I do the things I do...

I sigh, nodding. “Yes. Because I’m a Lunarpony. And because I hate it when ponies look at us and think we’re all vermin, not deserving of anything but the back end of their hoof.” I look down, and then back up. “But, that’s not the only reason I’m doing all of this. I care about you, Glow. You know that; you feel it, don’t you?”

She looks me up and down, nodding back

“See? It’s love. So why can’t I give it to you?”

Glow stares off into space for a moment, thinking. “Because I’m a changeling, Dusk Glider, not a pony.”

A fire grows in my chest. “How many times do I need to say this? I don’t care what you are!” I say firmly.

She looks back at me with a solemn face. “So, what do you want me to do, then? Hurt you every time I feel empty? That would be all thetime Dusk Glider. I can’t do that to you,” she illustrates, adding, “to anypony.”

I sit there silently, thinking. I look at her from head to hoof and then back again, nothing coming to mind but just how disheartening the situation was. I desperately want to help her, I just don’t know how...

“What are you looking at?” she asks me calmly. I realize I’m still staring.

“I don't... know…” I reply, looking down at her skinny body. She transformed almost as soon as she woke up, I thought, even though I’m the only one here. I return to her eyes. “It’s just… well, it's your disguise.”

Her ears fold back and she swallows hard. “W-what about it?” she asks, glancing down at herself and back to me. “I-Is there something wrong? Did I make the tail too long? Is my mane the right color? W-what is it?”

“It’s none of that,” I say. “You have to hide yourself from everypony just because they think you’re a monster,” I analyze. “And you know what? Something tells me that, deep down, you believe that, too.”

My words having surprised her, it takes a while for Glow to speak again. “Everyone’s scared when they see me. Even you, I felt it the moment I showed you,” she reveals. “I don’t believe it for nothing... you... you haven’t seen what I’ve done.” Her head drifts off to the side, dazed.

The fire inside of me grows once more. “I don’t care what you’ve done!” I say. “You can’t keep thinking about yourself like this.” With no response from her, I continue: “You put that disguise on as soon as you woke up, even when I was the only pony around. Why?”

“Because I don’t want to be anypony else!” Glow answers immediately. “It hurts every time I have to be reminded that I’m anything other than this.” She points a hoof at herself. “This is who I am.”

“But it isn’t!” I cry out. “The Unicorn I see in front of me isn’t you, It’s only a facade.”

“Well, it isn’t a facade to me! It’s been the real me for six years,” she says, “and it would have been me for so much longer if I didn’t screw up,” she adds harshly, though it seems that last part was directed towards herself.

I close my eyes, shaking my head. “Glow, please. There’s no reason to hide yourself. Just drop the disguise.”

“Why should I?” she counters.

“Because,” I say. “I’ve seen the real you, and I don’t think you’re a monster. You’re just different; you’re unique.”

“Heh,” she exhales. “Unique? You don’t even know what you’re talking about.” She looks away grimly.

“Please,” I beg.

Glow looks back at me through the corner of her eye, her face having taken on a hopeless expression. A pang of sorrow briefly runs down my spine. She stays like that for quite a while.

“...Please,” I plead, murmuring.

Finally, she frowns as purple embers rise up from her hooves, quickly catching her soft blue coat ablaze. It travels up her body swiftly and ends with a bright flash once it reaches the top of her head. There isn’t any smoke left behind, allowing me a clear view of her back chitinous form.

Her eyebrows are furrowed, glaring at the floor. “There,” she says flatly.

The sorrow is quickly replaced with relief. I let out the breath I hadn’t noticed I was holding and scoot over close to Glow, looking her up and down. “What do you think I see?” I ask her.

She glances up at me, surprised, yet retaining her upset demeanor. “A changeling,” she answers simply.

“Exactly,” I say, causing her to look up fully. “A changeling.” I feel my lips curl up into a smirk as I add, “A cute one, I’ll have you know. Not a monster – not even close.”

Glow’s eyes widen. “Y-you’re just saying that,” she denies.

I shake my head. “A monster wouldn’t care if they’re hurting somepony.”

Her eyes scan my face. She gulps, “You r-really think so?”

I nod. “Ponies call us Thestrals monsters all the time. If I thought what I said wasn’t true, I'd have to call myself one as well,” I explain. “But they’re wrong; it is true. I’m not a monster, Glow… and neither are you.”

She makes a chirp like a cricket again and holds a hoof up to her mouth. Her eyes glisten with moisture, almost making them sparkle. I notice as I cock my head that they aren’t all one color either. They have a pearlescent quality to them and grow lighter towards the centers, finally ending in an almost white ‘pupil’ that now looks back and forth across my face. I lean in to get a closer look and see that they do indeed glisten. Like The Milky Way on a moonless night.

“W-what is it?” she asks, making me notice just how close I had gotten.

“Your eyes,” I say softly and her ears perk up. “They’re beautiful!” I exclaim, looking between them.

Her mouth hangs open, bottom lip trembling. “How? How can you find me so... interesting? Nopony else can even stand to see me.” A tear drops out of her eye and trails down the white-painted part of her face.

“I don’t know,” I say shrugging. “I just know they’re missing out.”

She gasps and her eyes seem to light up even more. “You don’t mean that,” she says, shaking her head.

I place a hoof against my chin in feign thought. “You’re right,” I say. “I don’t mean it.” She blinks once. “...I really mean it.”

She wipes tears out of her eyes with a foreleg and for the first time since I met her, I see her smile. It’s small and she tries to hide it by turning her head down, but I still catch it. Two small fangs poke out from below her top lip. Both, pearly white and their tips sharp as the points of daggers.

“Now, come on. Don’t hide that from me, too,” I tease, causing her to look up at me.

“You’re doing it on purpose.” She smiles shyly, strangely, blushing in a blue hue. The white centers of her eyes look off to the side.

“Why, I don’t know what you mean,” I say, smiling back. I knew exactly what she meant.

She turns her eyes back over to me and looks up and down across my body. “You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?”

I did. “You know I can tell when a changeling is trying to hide her adorable smile from me, right?” I retort. Her smile grows even more as her blush turns into an even deeper blue. I can almost see all of her fangs when all of a sudden her eyebrows furrow and her smile fades. Finally, she looks away with a melancholy expression.

“W- what happened?” I ask, her eyes look back at me for a second before turning away again. “Was it something I said?” I ask more seriously.

“N- no… at least not directly,” she replies glumly. “I’m going to have to go out to collect soon,” she explains, fiddling with her hooves. “Being around you is j-just making it more noticeable.”

My ears perk up in confusion. “Collect what?”

She looks up in my direction. “E- em- emotions,” she says ashamedly.

“You mean from ponies?” I ask in a low tone and she nods. I raise an eyebrow. “But you have me.”

“We already tried that,” she says, avoiding my eyes. “It made you uncomfortable. And you stayed here all night! Celestia knows what kind of stuff that did to you already,” she contends.

“Glow, the only one getting hurt here is you.”

She shakes her head. “I’m afraid to take anymore Dusk Glider,” she squeaks.

I look at her, pleading. “Don’t be, please,” I say. When she doesn’t respond, I try another tactic. “By refusing to do it, I'd say you're already hurting me. The only thing that matters now is that you have something to eat,” I say with conviction.

Her wings buzz behind her back and her ears fold down. “I don't want to do this... but if it makes you happy, if it makes you stop worrying... f- fine,” she says, defeated. “But you have to promise me something, a- and don't try lying either!” she squeaks again.

I sit up instantly. “Anything!” I exclaim.

Her nostrils flare as she breathes deeply and her white irises remain fixed on me. “Promise me... if it gets too bad, you'll tell me when to stop.” She shakes and a barely noticeable second voice echoes in her words.

I take a deep breath and let it out. “I promise.”

She looks at me for a long while, contemplating. Finally, she rocks side to side and scoots over on the couch to face towards me. Her wings flutter slowly behind her, matching the anticipation and worry that are evident in her expression. Without saying anything, her small curved horn lights up in a silent purplish aura and I close my eyes.

At first, I don’t feel anything, but ever so slowly a presence enters. It’s like a cautious hoof is placed very gently against me, testing to see if it was okay.

“Go ahead, you’re alright,” I whisper.

She does, as I feel the sensation grow. The presence wraps around that part inside of me, feeling both warm and gentle. The closest comparison would be a timid hug, except more intimate and deeper than I’ve ever thought possible. I let out a surprised gasp, the feeling then withdrawing a tad.

“Y-you’re still alright?” I hear Glow ask, worriedly.

I nod my head slowly, still with my eyes closed. “Mmm-hmm... don’t stop.”

I hear her exhale and a warmth brushes up against me inside. “What’s different this time?” she questions.

I scrunch my face up in thought. “I… don’t really know, it… it just feels a whole lot better.”

“...And it doesn’t hurt at all?”

I shake my head. “No,” I breathe. “Actually, it’s just like last night…”

“Okay,” she says softly.

The feeling intensifies, holding me tighter and a light ‘swirling’ sensation joins in with the others. If I focus hard enough, it almost feels like a sphere inside of me, being softly caressed and held closely. I hear Glow’s breath quicken, coming out in quick bursts of air that blow up against the sphere.

I lean forward and flop down on top of Glow, who lets out a small surprised chirp. I hum contently as I rest my ear and a hoof against her chest. I can hear her quick heartbeat below the thick chitin covering her breast. Interestingly, it isn’t cool to the touch like I expected, even with how closely it resembles a slate of obsidian. Even more peculiar is the low buzzing sound that emanates from within her, the pattern similar to a cat purring. I find it very calming.

“It’s even better than the first time,” I say sleepily.

She tentatively wraps a hoof around me and I take the opportunity to squeeze in closer. “What does it feel like?” She asks.

I peek out of one of my eyes and think. If I use my imagination, the feeling wasn’t really a ‘sphere’ – well, it was – but it kinda felt more like…

“It’s like I’m floating,” I start. “I’m floating around in a dark space and there’s a calming presence there with me, embracing me tightly,” I explain.

An idea pops into my head. Up until now, it felt like I was simply going along for the ride. Letting Glow’s presence hold me without reciprocating. What if I were to hug back? I think.

I focus on the ‘sphere’ and imagine it growing legs. I imagine my soft, fluffy fur and my membranous wings. My evening-sky-colored mane and tail. Soon enough, I have an exact replica of myself, only much smaller. Finally, I open my eyes.

It was still dark, but instead of opaque blackness like before, it now just seemed like the space was much larger than I initially thought. And there was a light source, in fact. The presence that held me close was entirely of bluish-purple light in the shape of a small pony. It had no discernible features except for a curved horn on the top of its head, also glowing the same color.

I imagine myself leaning in and wrapping my hooves around the figure. My copy obeys. The surface of the figure’s ‘coat’ glows brighter in the areas that I make contact with. It feels electrifying, like skimming the edge of a stormcloud.

“Oh,” Glow gasps out loud. “Ho-wh-what did you just do?” she asks, holding me tighter the presence pulling me in at the exact same time

“Just thought I should return the favor,” I reply with a soft smile.

“H-how?” she questions, her chest rising and falling in quick succession.

“I don’t know…” I open my eyes slightly. “How do you do it?”

She seems to hesitate for a moment and I think that maybe it was too personal of a question, but she surprises me when she speaks up. “It’s Form One; the most effective way to feed,” she says. “We were taught to picture the core of the source and bite into it, but not enough to where they realize what’s happening,” she shifts uncomfortably. “My bestower taught me to think of it another way…” she trails off.

“Your… bestower?” I ask, confused.

Her ears perk up. “M- my… uh, teacher, I guess you could call it,” she says quietly. “Can you… uh…” she blushes and looks away. “Do you think you can try doing it again?”

I smile. “Sure,” I say softly, closing my eyes.

I reach my imaginary legs out and pull the form in tightly, causing Glow to hum soundly. I feel what I now picture as her form squeezing back, delicate hooves trailing up my back. I let out a little moan and the darkness around me gains some color in the way of a dim purplish light. All around me, a warmth grows, seeping into my fluffy coat. Like I’ve been wrapped in a set of wings.

Two can play at that, I think, unraveling my imaginary wings and draping them over the presence.

“Luna,” Glow gasps. “I- I’ve never tasted an-anything like this before,” she stammers out.

I lift an ear. “Taste?” I feel her nod. “What does it taste like?”

The presence still holds strong, caressing my back. “S-sweet, even m-more than sympathy. Sorta like kindness, but also... tingly,” she explains tiredly. “Tingly... and numbing and… and sweet.”

I tilt my head into her chest again. Her chin comes to rest on top of it. “How… how much longer do you think you can go?” she asks as I feel her back hooves wrap around my waist.

“...Well, I could probably do this forever,” I state in a trance.

She only replies with another content hum.

I really could do it forever, it’s one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever felt: the tingly warmth, the weightlessness. It’s like the very concept of stress didn’t exist here. It was beautiful. Even more beautiful than-

My eyes shoot open.

Glow releases me slightly. “W-what is it? Did something happen?” she asks worriedly.

I let out a long breath and slowly sit up, Glow unwrapping her hooves from around me. “No, no. It’s just…” I trail off, thinking of something to say. “I’d really, really like to stay, but I told my friend Kix I’d be back home last night and he’s probably worried sick about me.”

“Oh,” she says evenly, a sad tone in her voice. “Y-yeah, you should probably get going.”

I hop off the couch and turn back towards her. “Hey,” I grab her attention and she looks up at me. “Helping you… it made me happy. I really enjoyed the time we spent together.” She smiles somewhat, blushing. I can’t stop myself from smiling along with her. “So, uh,” I start, “do you think maybe we could go get some lun- oh, or, no, maybe...” I pause. “Actually, what do you like to do?”

“W-w-what do you mean?!” she squeaks, my question seeming to have caught her off guard.

“Like, what do you like doing for fun? That way we can go do something together another time,” I reiterate.

Her eyes widen. “You mean... you want to see me again?”

I laugh. “Of course! You didn’t think I was going to flat-out disappear on you, right?”

Her ears fold back and she fiddles with her hooves again for a minute. “Right… I uh, I like going on walks,” she states shyly.

“Hmm,” I ponder. “Have you ever been to the Upper Promenade over on the east side?”

She shakes her head. “Uh, no. I’ve always taken the form of a Unicorn, so it’s kind of hard to get all the way up there. Especially because I don’t have bits for the balloon ride,” she explains.

“Well, how about I take you?!” I say excitedly. “It wouldn’t be that long of a flight, the view from up there is amazing; I wouldn’t mind carrying you at all.”

Her white marked cheeks blush a light blue. “Y-you’re sure?” she chirps and I nod. “There… won’t be too many ponies up there, right?”

I shake my head. “No, all the tourists will probably be on The Strip or over near the West Promenade. There should be plenty of space for us over on the other side.”

It takes a few moments for her to say anything as she holds a hole-filled hoof to her chin. “...Okay,” she finally answers in a quiet voice.

“Great!” I say excitedly. “How about Sunday?”

“That should be alright,” she answers, this time speaking much more quickly.

“Awesome.” I grin at her for a long while before I snap to. “I uh, I should probably get going now,” I say sheepishly.

Glow looks away for a second but comes back with a small smile. “Okay, I’ll walk you out then,” she says, hopping off of the couch and trotting with me into the corridor.

A purple flash lights up the windowless entryway and when I glance back at her, she is once more a light-blue Unicorn mare.

She looks over to me as she walks up to the door and ignites her horn. “Thank you, Dusk Glider. For helping me,” she says timidly, though still sweet.

I smile back at her as she unlocks the metal door and pulls it open. I shield my eyes with a wing and squint into the harsh light that floods in. “Heh, didn’t pack my umbrella last night,” I say as my slitted eyes adjust. I go to trot past her, but stop before I exit the doorway, spinning around.

Glow looks at me confused as I lift a hoof up and touch her cheek, leaning in and planting a firm kiss on the opposite side. She goes rigid, letting out an ‘eep’. I lean back and smirk at her with half-lidded eyes. “Thank you, for letting me help,” I say, giving her a wink.

She blushes pink beneath her blue coat, mumbling something incoherent while rubbing the spot, her stunned eyes never leaving me.

“And by the way…” I say, trotting down the two front steps before turning around on the walking path. “Call me Dusk, from now on.” With that, I spread my wings, taking off into the sky.

****

Hive, Nine was right all along.